


Emma Surprised

by frogy



Category: Emma Approved
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 13:12:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2774243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogy/pseuds/frogy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex plans a surprise for Emma.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Emma Surprised

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sixpennybook](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sixpennybook/gifts).



> Happy yuletide! I hope you enjoy the story. I had a blast writing it.

The ring is the easy part. Alex buys it what is probably embarrassingly soon after they start dating. But there's no question that this is forever. They are adults and they know what they want. He's been all in since the day they metaphorically hung out the 'Emma Approved' sign and declared themselves open for business.

Asking is harder. Alex wants it to be a surprise. The holiday's are cliche. They are right out. Emma's birthday is in the middle of the Asher wedding planning. And again, cliche. Better to just pick a time that's quiet at the office and unexpected and go with that. Well, that's as easy as opening up gcal and finding a date.

They're both free next weekend, but that's too soon to plan something. Except maybe dinner. He wonders if they'd be able to get a reservation at the new Greek place that Emma's been talking about. He makes a mental note to ask.

But that's the last free weekend on the calendar for a while. There's the bistro opening they're planning and then Emma will out of town. Then a weekend that looks promising until he realizes that Harriet is out of town. Emma's going to want her friends around to celebrate, and Harriet around to start planning right away. It would be mean to plan it so that Harriet can't enjoy her vacation. Then there's two showers they're planning, and then John and Izzy and the kids are going to be in town for the week. Then they've rolled right into the spring wedding season.

This shouldn't be that hard.He sees Emma pretty much every day, at work and not.

So, back to the calendar. It's work, Emma away, work, work, Harriet away, John and Izzy and kids in town for two weeks, and then work forever. Maybe he can do it one of the weekends John and Izzy are in town. Emma's going to want to tell Izzy right away. It could be fun, having everyone there. John and Izzy, and Harriet and Bobby, and he should invite Annie and Ryan, and name. He can make a celebration of it. Something that's Emma Approved.

Which is how Alex winds up planning a party.

\---

So, party. Emma does this all the time. How hard can it be?

Answer: Very.

Apparently people typically plan parties more than seven weeks in advance. Or at least that's what he's learning when the sixth place on the list of Emma Approved Dinner Party Locations™ tells him "I'm very sorry Mr. Knightley but we've got a party that night."

"Okay, what about Friday, or the Friday before, or that Saturday?" Alex asks, a little desperately. John and Izzy will be there for two weekends. That leaves four weekend dates. Someplace must be available on one of them.

There's a pause as the restaurant's even coordinator checks the dates on the other end of the phone. "I'm sorry. We've got an opening three weeks later, on Sunday, if the date is flexible," they say.

"No, that's okay," Alex says. "Thanks anyway"

"We can call Emma and let you guys know if a date opens up," they offer.

"No, no, that's okay," Alex says. He definitely doesn't want them to call Emma. And if thinking that summoned her, Emma appears in Alex's office doorway. Alex waves her in, in what he hopes is a not-suspicious manner. She sits down next to him and he holds up a finger. Emma waits silently.

"We'll, we're very sorry we can't work with you on this event," Natalie is saying. But Alex isn't listening anymore. He needs to be off this call before Emma figures out what's happening.

"Thanks anyway for all your help," he says rushed. "Bye."

"What was that?" Emma asks.

"Oh, nothing."

"Are you sure? It sounded like Natalie from La Nourriture."

"Yea, I just couldn't find the duplicate copies of the contract from the Gallagher engagement party. But they're gonna send them over, so it's all fine. Nothing to worry about." He realizes after he says it that telling someone, especially when that someone is Emma, not to worry is practically a directive to do the exact opposite. "Really, it's fine." He needs to shut up.

"If you need something from one of our vendors, I can call them," Emma says. "They're more used to dealing with me anyway."

"It's fine," Alex says. "Were you looking for me for something?"

"Oh, yea, coffee break," Emma says already taking his hand dragging him up, out of his chair. "Unless you're busy."

"Coffee break it is."

\---

Alex gets to the nineteenth place on the Emma Approved Dinner Party Locations™ with no luck before cracking and dialing an internal number.

"Hi Alex," Harriet says when she picks up.

"Can you come here for a sec?"

"Sure Alex. Did you need me to bring you something?" she asks.

"Just your brain," he says

"I can do that."

"Thanks."

A second latter Harriet appears in his doorway.

"Hey, thanks, come on in. And close the door."

"What's wrong?" Harriet asks, closing the door gently and hesitantly taking the seat next to him.

"Nothing is wrong. I just need help with something."

"Sure, what is it?" Then Harriet notices the list of Emma Approved Dinner Party Locations™ up on his screen. "Are we planning a dinner party? How come Emma didn't tell me about it? Who's the client? I can call some places."

"Emma doesn't know."

"She doesn't know we're planning a party? She should. That's definitely more her thing than yours. No offense."

"It's not for a client. It's a surprise. I'm planning it. For Emma."

"Oh, what's the occasion? It's not her birthday."

"It's a surprise."

"Okay," Harriet says hesitantly. "So a surprise party. For Emma. For no reason. When did you want to have it?"

"It's not for no reason. The reason is a surprise," Alex says. If Harriet's going to help, he might need to tell her sooner than later, but he wasn't planning on it when he called her in, so he holds off for now. "I wanted to do it when John and Izzy are in town."

"No wonder you're having trouble with the list. Those are some of the most in demand venues in the city. You're never going to get one of them for something six weeks away."

"So what do I do?"

"Go off the list," Harriet says like it's obvious.

"Call more restaurants?"

"No. You're coming at this all wrong," she says. "You don't just want to thing about popular places that everyone else would think of. It's too late to get one of those places. You want someplace that's unique to you that no one else will have thought to book it yet. You and Emma."

"Like?"

"Well, what's your theme?"

"Theme?" Alex asks. Maybe he should start listening to his own advice. He tells Emma to pay more attention to the finances. But it turns out he doesn't know the first thing about planning a party.

"Yeah, the first step of planning the party is to figure out the theme," Harriet explains. "Like, if the theme was 'dreaming on a star' you can rent out the Griffiths Observatory. Or if the theme was 'Old Hollywood' you can have the party at the Cicada Club."

"So, you're saying I've been doing this all wrong," Alex says. It's not a question. "Because I have no idea what my theme is."

"That's okay. That's why we're the professionals. So, tell me about your first date with Emma," Harriet says.

"Didn't Emma tell you all about it?" Alex is sure she must have.

"I want to hear it from you."

"We went to the beach."

"The beach?" Harriet did hear about it from Emma. And in Emma's story, there was no beach.

"Well, we went to Il Cibo in the Valley. There was bumper to bumper traffic on the way back. Seriously not moving traffic. I drove, and I don't know, but we had been in the car for ages so when we passed the exit for the beach I took it. Emma made me carry her shoes so they wouldn't get sand in them. And then she still made me buy her a new pair."

That makes it sound dumb, but it wasn't. It was nice. Romantic. The stars were out, and the water was shockingly cold when they waded in. It was the type of night where you could see the stars. He gave Emma his coat when she was cold.

Her shoes never got near the sand, but that wasn't the point.

"So, the beach. That's something that we can work with," Harriet says.

"We can?"

"Let me do some research and I'll let you know."

"Don't tell Emma." Alex wants to make absolutely sure this is going to be a surprise. If Emma gets even a whiff of a secret, she'll start trying to ferret it out.

"It's a surprise. I got it," she says, standing up. "And if it's the surprise I think it is, she's going to say yes."

"Thanks Harriet."

Harriet opens the door and jumps. Emma's on the other side, reaching for the doorknob.

"Oh, Harriet, hi," Emma says, with a questioning frown on her face.

"Hi Emma," Harriet says. "I'm just going back to my desk now."

"What were you guys up to?"

"Taxes."

"Taxes?"

"Yeah, paperwork. Boring stuff. I'll see you later." And Harriet scurries away.

"Taxes?" Emma asks Alex, wrinkling her brow.

"Yeah, boring stuff."

"Do you need me to do something?"

"Nope, you're an owner not an employee. You're fine," Alex says.

"Great."

"Did you need something from me?"

"Just

\---

"Harriet."

Harriet looks up from her computer. Emma is standing over the reception desk. Taxes were a terrible lie and Harriet is about to pay for it.

"Yes, Emma? Was there something you needed?"

"Did you want to revise your opinion about Alex being up to something weird?"

"Not particularly."

"You're my assistant. You're not supposed to be on his side."

"There's no side, there's nothing going on. I was just filling out 2015 paperwork for taxes."

Emma doesn't look convinced, but she does leave Harriet's desk to head back to her office. So Harriet counts it as a win.

\---

"I've got it," Harriet says, sticking her head into Alex's office.

"Shh... close the door."

"Oh, don't worry. Emma's at the florist."

"Okay, so, what do you have?"

"We can have the dinner party on the beach. You can apply for a permit to set up furniture on a state beach. I found some information on someone who did it up on San Francisco. We'd still need to find a caterer and do a furniture rental. But the place is nice. And since it's not an indoor space, it's flexible in terms of guests. How many people were you thinking of having?"

"I don't know. Like 15 or so."

"Well, you should probably hurry up and invite them. Or else people will have other plans."

"Shouldn't we make sure we have a place before we invite people? And a caterer?"

"The caterer's going to need to know how many people they are cooking for. But you should probably get the permit first. How formal of an invitation is it going to be? If you send out invites, you need that info. If you're just going to call everyone, or send an email, then you can leave it as 'more details to follow.'

"What do you think I should do?"

"Well, invites are nicer, fancier," Harriet says. "But they require you to know a lot more details than you currently have. And they cost money. And they are another thing for Emma to find."

"You think Emma's suspicious?" Alex adks. Harriet gives him a look. "Of course Emma's suspicious." Well, he only has to keep it a secret for three more weeks. He can do that. Right?

"Secrets are sort of like catnip to her," Harriet says.

"That's a terrible analogy. Cats have no idea what's going on when they're on catnip. The nepetalactone binds to their olfactory receptors and they start hallucinating."

"Do I want to know why you know that?"

"Probably not," Alex says.

"Okay."

"Figure out the invite situation, and soon," and with that Harriet goes back to her desk. The worst thing that could happen would be Emma coming back early and asking more questions.

\---

"Oh, hey Emma," Harriet says, looking up from her desk over the cubical wall dividing her desk from the two arm chairs that make up their waiting room. "How were the flowers?"

"Red," Emma says, plunking her event binder down on the wall in emphasis.

"Red? I thought the color theme for the party was citrus."

"It was, but Claire was insistent on the roses. And well, they are romantic," Emma says, making her way around to sit down next to Harriet so they can figure out a game plan.

"So what are we doing about the green?" Harriet asks. They've planned everything around lime green, neon yellow, and tangerine.

"Seeing if we can change it," Emma says. Maybe if they skew things more towards ruby-red grapefruit it can work. But there's no way lime green is going to cut it, unless the party theme is suddenly a tropical Christmas.

Harriet's already looking up the number of the linen rental company, so she misses the speculative look in Emma's eyes. "Anything interesting happen while I was out?"

"Nope," Harriet says.

"What have you been working on?"

"Oh, just, you know, work." Harriet says. She's a terrible liar, and she needs to get Emma off this train of thought immediately. "Here's the linen rental place. They have a color called ruby-red grapefruit. Oooh, or blood orange," Harriet turns her screen to show Emma.

"I like it," Emma says. "Call and see if it's available for the party? If not, the grapefruit can be second choice."

"Will do," Harriet says, letting out a breath, having dodged that bullet.

But it's too soon. "Has anyone ever told you you're not a good actress?"

And Harriet can honestly say "yes, actually my high school drama teacher. Like, I love musicals so much. I'm pretty good at singing, and I can sort of dance. You know, at least as well as everyone else in high school can. So I always used to try out for the musicals. But then we'd have to read lines and I'd always get cut. I guess I'm just meant to enjoy musicals from the audience," Harriet ends, shrugging at her failed musical theater career.

"Okay," Emma says, stepping away from Harriet's obviously truthful babble. "I'll leave you to call about the linens. Let me know how it goes."

\---

"Harriet has a secret."

Alex jumps in his chair, at Emma. He didn't realize she was back. Or in his office. "What? No."

"Yes. She's been acting all squirrely and she's a terrible liar about it."

"She seems totally normal to me," Alex says.

"Well, that's because you're terrible at noticing these things," Emma says, taking the other seat in his office. "And I'm not jumping to conclusions," she cuts off Alex's next train of thought before he can contradict her. "I have proof."

"Really, what's your proof?"

"Well, she just lied terribly about not having a secret to me. And she wouldn't tell me what she was working on while I was out. The company is called _Emma_ Approved. I'm the _Emma_. There's nothing she could have been working on I don't know about." Emma ticks off each point of her 'proof' on her fingers as she goes. "And, she was all weird the other day when she told me you guys were working on taxed. Psh, taxes." Emma finishes.

Alex doesn't say anything right away. "Unless..." And Alex which realizes he's made a tactical mistake when he can practically see the lightbulb go off over Emma's head. "It's not her secret to tell. You were there all the times Harriet couldn't account for," she says. "Alex Knightley, do you have a secret."

"No, of course not." But there's no way Emma's going to buy it.

"I don't believe you." And he was right.

"It's not a secret," he insists. "It's a surprise."

"Same thing," Emma says.

"No, they're not."

"Well, I'm going to find out what it is," Emma says.   
"No, you're not," Alex says, excited. He's confident he can keep everything secret for the few more weeks planned. But winding Emma up is fun. They challenge each other in the best way.

"Oh, the game is afoot," Emma says. "Ugh," she covers her eyes with her hand in horror. "I can't believe I said that. This is all your fault for making me watch that show."

"You loved it," Alex counters. She did. "You were totally into the tall, nerdy, white guy."

"Yea, lucky for you I like those things."

"Yea," Alex agrees, smiling. "Lucky for me."

\---

Alex understands why Harriet suggested against invitations. If there were hard proof of something going on, Emma would have definitely found it by now. But sending out an invite via paperless post means that he's had every single person who's invited call him to talk about it today. And the way his phone has been blowing up is as suspicious as anything else.

He guesses people would still call if he sent out physical invitations, but the post office can be counted on to be inconsistent with when they deliver (and thus when people would call him).

He missed a call from I+J Knightley Home earlier, and has been waiting for Emma to be out of the office to return it. She just left to tour a warehouse space that might work for the charity art auction they are planning, so Alex should have at least two hours free to return calls without giving up the game, and they are first on his list.

Izzy answers when he calls their house not with 'hello' or 'who's calling?' but with "Oh my god this is so exciting."

"Call ID gave me away, huh?" he says.

"Oh my god, yes, this is so exciting," Izzy says. "And yes, caller ID."

Alex laughs. "I'm excited too."

"And it's when we're going to be down there visiting, so obviously I'm RSVP-ing yes."

"Oh," Alex says, still chuckling at Izzy's enthusiasm. It's been hard keeping it a secret from Emma when all he wants to do is shout from rooftops about how excited he is. And now he gets to talk about it. "You didn't need to RSVP. Obviously you were coming. I planned it when you'd guys would be here intentionally."

"Great," Izzy says on the other end of the phone.

"Actually," Alex says. "I wanted to ask if you could help with the surprise."

"Of course, What do you want me to do?"

"Can you suggest doing something just the two of you that day? Keep Emma away so that I can set up."

"Of course," Izzy agrees immediately.

"Tell her John and I will watch the kids. I mean, we will actually take them," Alex clarifies. "Emma's already suspicious. There can't be any reason for the two of you to possibly come back earlier."

"Are you really going to be able to keep it a surprise if Emma's already suspicious?" Izzy asks, skeptically. "Emma's good at digging up secrets."

"I'm confident," he says.

"And you're sure Emma hasn't bugged your office yet?" Izzy says.

"Oh, I checked for bugs before calling." Alex is only half joking. It's only been a couple of days since Emma got serious about figuring out Alex's secret, and she's stayed with him every night since then. Driving to and from work together means he knows she hasn't come by after hours to bug his office (plus, it's environmentally friendly-- bonus!). And obviously she can't do it while he's in there. So he doesn't need to worry about it yet. Maybe he'll start to worry after the weekend.

"Well, I'll talk Emma into a ladies day out so you can get ready," Izzy says. "For avoiding bugs in your office, you're on your own."

"Thanks," Alex says.

"I'll give you a call and let you know what she says, in case you need to come up with a plan B."

"Sounds good, talk to you later," Alex says as they wrap up the call, one step closer to pulling off this surprise.

\---

The next call Alex gets is from Annie. She's as excited as Izzy was, and just as willing to help, this time totally unprompted.

"And I'm making dessert, obviously," Annie tells him.

"You don't have to," Alex says. "I know you're busy with the baby. You should just come as a guest and not worry about it."

"Shut your mouth, Alex Knightley," Annie says. "My best friend is getting married, and I am making her cupcakes, and you don't really get a say in the matter."

"Wow, I can see why you and Emma are friends now," Alex says, taken aback. Emma's typically the strongest personality out of any crowd. But Annie's got it too.

"So you'll accept the cupcakes?"

"Yes, thank you." Alex knows when he's beat. Plus, Annie makes the best cupcakes. "You really don't have to, but if you want to, I'd love it if you handled dessert."

"Great," Annie says. "And I should probably go before nap time is over. I know all of Emma's favorites, but if you have anything specific you want for the party, send the details over.

\---

"I thought we were having a girls day?" Izzy says. "Shopping, mani-pedis, lunch at some trendy place that doesn't serve chicken nuggets for the kids? This is your office."

Izzy is right. Emma looks around suspiciously as she opens the door. "Sorry, I totally owe you one," she tells her sister. If life had a soundtrack, the Mission Impossible theme song would be playing right now. But no one's invented a real-life soundtrack machine yet, so she just has to think it really hard. Alex and John said they were taking the kids to Chuck-e-Cheese to give Izzy a break to hang out with Emma. But Alex is up to something, and Emma is going to find out what.

"So if we're not having a girls day, what are we doing?" Izzy asks, exasperated, trailing Emma to her office.

"Setting up spy cameras," Emma says, holding up an open shipping box filled with little black cameras and a jumble of wires.

"Umm."

"Alex is up to something. I know it. And if no one is going to tell me, I'm just going to have to find out for myself."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Izzy asks. She's supposed to be distracting Emma from what Alex is up to today. Not encouraging spying. "You know, trust is an important part of any relationship."

"Alex knows who he's dealing with," Emma says, pausing in unpacking the cameras to wave a dismissive hand."

"What does that mean?"

"It means he knows I'm nosey and inquisitive and don't do well with people keeping secrets," Emma says, digging an instruction booklet out of the packaging. "If that were a problem, we wouldn't work together."

"Maybe it's a good secret," Izzy suggests desperately. "Maybe you should just let him tell you when he's ready."

"Ah-ha!" Emma says, pointing a finger for emphasis. "So there is a secret. And you know what it is."

"Uh," Izzy stalls. Shit. "I don't."

"Izzy Knightley, you totally do," Emma says. "Come on. Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me." Emma is not above being the annoying little sister.

But after having kids, you get immune to some of that type of annoyingness. "Nope."

"Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me."

Then again, Emma can be really annoying when she tries. "If I help you install the cameras, will you stop that?" Izzy says, caving. Emma stops immediately, handing Izzy a camera. "What to I do with this?"

Emma flips through the instruction booklet. "We install it in Alex's office," she says leading the way down the hall.

Izzy sighs. At least by work on Monday the cameras would be irrelevant.

\---

Alex picks Emma up at her apartment. Emma thinks they are meeting Izzy and John and the kids at a new sushi. Emma is smiling, all but bouncing up and down in the passenger seat.

"Hey," Emma says. "How was Chuck E Cheeses?"

Alex isn't a terrible liar, but he's glad that she takes his grumbled "too loud" at face value without too much prodding. His palms are sweating on the steering wheel and now is not the time to test his acting abilities.

But Emma seems just as jittery and excited as he does, and Alex doesn't know what her secret is. "Good day with Izzy?" Alex asks.

"Good," Emma says, also not elaborating, and Alex gives her a once over when he's stopped at a red light.

"What did you say you were doing?" he asks.

"Spa day," Emma says.

"Really?" Alex says skeptically. "Your nails were that color this morning." He nods in the direction of her hands, curled around the clutch in her lap. These things matter to Emma, so he pays attention.

"It matches my outfit so I got the same color," Emma says a bit too quickly.

Alex shrugs. If Emma was up to something, he'll find out eventually. So he just says "I like it," and moves on, changing the subject. "How's Izzy like being back in school?"

They talk about their family and general chatter for the rest of the ride.

The next time Emma notices something is different is when Alex pulls into a parking lot that is decidedly not the restaurant's valet parking. Instead, it's the lot for the beach. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"We're taking a detour," Alex says, pulling into a spot and cutting the engine. "Come on," he says to Emma, getting out of the car.

"We're going to be late to dinner," Emma says, not moving.

"We won't, I promise, come on." He's not wheedling or pleading. There's something in his voice that says 'trust me.' And so Emma does, getting out of the car to follow Alex.

He leads her through the lot and to the wooden boardwalk. The air has the fresh salty scent of ocean, and the sun is beginning to set. The sand that's crept up on to the boardwalk crunches under Emma's heels and she breaks the quiet to harken back to their first date. "If the sand ruins these shoes, you owe me a new pair."

"I'll buy you new ones anyway," Alex says. "But why don't you take them off and I'll hold on to them and keep them safe."

"Why, where are we going?" Emma asks, pausing to undo her shoes and hand them over. Alex waits for her, and takes her shoes graciously. She's much shorter without them. Being on flat feet reminds her of how tall Alex really is, and she'd sidle up to his side until he puts his arm around her shoulders and block the cool breeze blowing in.

But he's already moving again, and she scurries to keep up as Alex practically bounds down the steps on the other side, taking them down to the beach. "It's a surprise," he calls back.

Emma catches up to Alex on the sand, "where are we going?" she asks, laughing, Alex's energy infectious.

And then they turn a corner and she sees it.

There's a long table set up with dinnerware and gold-dipped flatware. There are bamboo posts coming out of the sand draped with twinkling lights that she can just picture making everything glitter as the sun goes down, the sky changing from the current riot of reds and oranges to an expanse of navy blanketing the night. This is a dream dinner party.

There's a tower of cupcakes on a smaller table off to the side, and that's when Emma notices the people. Annie's there, with her cupcakes, and Harriet and Bobby are here, and Izzy and John, and her dad.

She's not sure what she's looking at. "Alex, what...?" Emma turns around to ask what's going on here, but is stopped short. Alex is no longer standing behind her. He's kneeling. On one knee. And he has a little black box that he's holding in his hands. Emma's shoes are dangling from his hands below it, and Emma feels a nervous giggle bubble up out of her. She brings a hand up to her mouth.

It feels like Emma's been looking at Alex kneeling there for forever, a moment suspended in time indefinitely, when he finally speaks it's so obvious what's happening he almost doesn't need to say it.

"Emma, will you marry me?"

Emma nods. And keeps nodding. She should give Alex her hand. That ring is for her. She's going to get married. But she's frozen. She can't say anything. She's going to cry.

"Emma?"

And she finds her voice again. "Yes." She gives Alex her left hand and he slides on the ring. She's entranced by the way it sparkles on her finger that she doesn't realize Alex is standing up until he pulls her into a kiss. Their friends and family cheer behind them, and the sound of the waves create a soundtrack for the moment. Then there's the dull thud of Emma's shoes dropping into the sand next to them, Alex's hands holding her instead.

"You owe me new shoes," Emma says smiling in the circle of Alex's arms.

"As many as you want," he says. "As long as you promise to plan all future parties. It's harder than it looks."

"Deal." Emma's blinking fast, trying to stop the tears that are gathering. It's not working. She presses the back of her index fingers carefully under her eyelashes. She's going to ruin the perfect party he planned with running mascara. "I don't want to cry," she says, although it's clear she has no say in the matter.

Alex pulls her in, arms tightening so she's got her face buried in his chest. Like this, Emma can pretend it's just the two of them in this little bubble. "Good surprise, right? Is this Emma Approved™?"

"Of course, the best surprise," she says, like there's no doubt. She pushes away from him so she can look up and meet his eyes. Alex has the same stupid smile on his face that she can feel mirrored on hers.

"Good," he says. His eyes flick up to look behind her and then back to her. "Because I think everyone's waiting to congratulate us."

"Right." No crying, she can do this. She's Emma Woodhouse (soon to be Knightley. Or Woodhouse-Knightley. Or Knightley-Woodhouse. She'll figure it out later.) They have a celebration to attend to.

\--- 

[ ](http://tinypic.com?ref=2lupenk)

**Author's Note:**

> This story grew out of knowing two real life couples where the guy planned a surprise proposal/engagement party and the only person who didn't know was the lady being proposed to.
> 
> The two fake restaurants are "The Food" google translated into French and Italian respectively (because sometimes I think I'm funny).
> 
> If you want links to any of the pins on the pinterest board, let me know. The bulk of the beach dinner party photos are from [Oh Happy Days](http://ohhappyday.com/category/pop-up-dinner-parties/). If you wanted to plan me a surprise party, any of these would pretty much be my dream party.


End file.
